How to Prove I Am a Combat Veteran

1. Military service documentation reflecting use in a combat theater.
2. Combat veteran medals for service.
3. Combat veteran status after January 28, 2003.
4. Receipt of imminent danger or hostile fire pay or tax benefits.

What qualifies as a combat veteran?

A combat veteran is generally one who has a military record indicating they received Hostile Fire Pay, or were deployed to and served in a combat zone. There may be other indicators required by certain programs (expeditionary medals, campaign medals, etc.)

What medals qualify for combat veteran?

c. Medals. Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal (does not include Global War on Terrorism Medal); Kosovo Campaign Medal; Southwest Asia Campaign Medal; and other DOD authorized combat related medals.

How do you know if you served in a combat zone?

The VA lists several different ways in which a Veteran can prove he or she was in combat: If you received a combat service medal. If you received hostile fire pay, imminent danger pay, or tax benefits. If you received military service documentation that documents combat theater.

What is considered combat activity?

Combat-related service includes training that simulates war, hazardous duty, using an instrument of war, or armed conflict.

How do I prove I am a combat veteran?

The qualifications for combat veteran status include discharge or release from active service on or after January 28, 2003. Recipients of Hostile Fire Pay or Imminent Danger Pay typically qualify for combat veteran status. These also apply to activated Reservists and members of the National Guard.

What is considered a combat deployment?

Military deployment is the movement of armed forces. Deployment includes any movement from a military Service Member’s home station to somewhere outside the continental U.S. and its territories. One example would be when a unit based in the U.S. is deployed to another country to enter into a combat zone.

What percentage of veterans are combat veterans?

There are more than 2.5 million post 9/11 military veterans that have served our nation, which is less than 1% of the population. 80 percent of those spent some time in an overseas combat zone.

Does Armed Forces Service Medal qualify for veterans preference?

Any Armed Forces expeditionary Medal, whether listed here or not, is qualifying for Veterans preference. DD 214, Certificate of Discharge or Separation from Active Duty, or other official documents issued by the branch of service are required as verification of eligibility for Veterans preference.

What defines a Vietnam combat veteran?

A Vietnam veteran is someone who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War. In the English-speaking world, the term “Vietnam veteran” is not usually used in relation to members of the communist People’s Army of Vietnam or the Viet Cong (also known as the National Liberation Front).

What is considered serving in combat?

Generally, combat veterans are those that served in a combat zone during their military service. This can include service in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and certain areas of Iraq and Afghanistan, among other locations.

What is a combat zone in the military?

A combat zone is an area designated as a war zone during a specified period of time for the purposes of reporting to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by military personnel. While working in a combat zone, members of the military receive a number of tax benefits.

Is Afghanistan still considered a combat zone?

Afghanistan Area 13239, Afghanistan (and the airspace above) was designated as a combat zone beginning September 19, 2001. The following countries were certified by the Department of Defense for combat zone benefits due to their direct support of military operations in the Afghanistan combat zone.

Does Kuwait count as a combat deployment?

There are three different types of combat qualification, Riley said. A combat zone that is designated by executive order. Places like Afghanistan and Iraq fall into this category, but so does Kuwait, which has been designated by executive order since the 1991 Gulf War.

What is combat duty?

Active military combat duty means military personnel serving in an active capacity including but not limited to active duty personnel, reservists and National Guard personnel in a combat zone for a named United States military conflict (or veterans of such combat).

What does combat related mean?

Combat -Related Special Compensation (CRSC) provides special compensation to retirees who have retired pay reduced because of receiving U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation. Instead they will receive both their full military retirement pay and their VA disability compensation.